An HoO Love Story
by JE 3
Summary: A love story set in the HoO universe. Some Fluff. Some erotic edges, but still rated T. PercyXAnnabeth. JasonXPiper. FrankXHazel. Beta: calwilkison. AU, because I don't know how the series will end yet.
1. Chapter 1

HoO Love Stories.

A/N: Quick thing. I'm kind of a Hopeless Romantic. Not into romance ? Looking for all action ? This isn't for you. You have been is told through three different couples. Set after HoO series.

Percy.

Percy had been nervous before . He was a the son of an all-powerful sea god. He'd fought off hoards of monsters for seven years, struggled to stay alive since he was twelve. He'd killed a giant with an OCD chunk of marble, for Gods's sakes ! He thought he could handle nerves. But sitting here, in an airport lobby,his foot tapping quickly against the linolium, he could barely keep down his breakfast .

In just a few short moments, his girlfriend , Annabeth Chase , would be arriveing . She was coming out from San Deigo to look at colleges closer to Camp Half-Blood, one of the few safe havens for young demigods . She, like him, was too old to attend camp, but tried to help train the next generation of demigods whenever she could. She could, of course , have looked at schools in California, the state Camp Jupiter, the camp of children of the Roman gods, but had she opted to study in New York.

She insisted it was because she simply new NYC a bit better. Although Percy , her boyfriend of three years , thought he might have a bit to do with it. So she had visited before, of course, but this was a bit different. Now, she was coming to stay on a more perminant basis. See, she wasn't just coming to look at schools in New York, she was coming to live there . She had talked about finding an appartment in the city soon , but was going to stay with Percy until she could find one. Although, Percy was hoping for her stay to be permenant. Once they got to his appartment, he resolved, he'd ask her to move in with him.

This was the reason for his nerves. What if she said no? What if she thought it was too soon? What if she so got freaked out that she never wanted to see him again? All these thoughts were running at hyper-speed through his mind as Annabeth walked into the lobby loaded down with luggage, eyes scanning the room for a familiar face. Catching her eye, all of Percy's fears, for the moment al least, dissapeared. He got caught up in her. Her intense, grey, eyes, her confidant stride, her adorable, yet somehow cocky, smile. Today was going to go well, he told himself.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Hey guys . Sorry about the last chapter. Please try to read it anyway. I'm kinda new to this whole Fanfic thing.I'll try to work out the kinks.

Annabeth.

Annabeth loved the New York Skyline. Not only was it a welcome and familiar sight, but it had always been an inspiration to her as well. All those magnificent buildings standing as tribute to the great architects that came before her. Since she had decided on a career as an architect, contributing a building to the skyline of New York had been a goal of hers. She had always dreamed about pointing to a building in that amazing sight and saying "See that one ? That one right there ? That's mine." The thought had always brought a smile to her face in a way that very few things could."Speaking of things that make me smile" she thought as she walked into the airport lobby and laid eyes on a dark- haired boy with sea- green eyes smiling back at her.

Percy Jackson. Just thinking that name brought a huge, silly grin to her face. As Percy sprang up and started towards her, she knew she probably looked incredibly dopey. Like seeing him was single greatest thing that had ever happened to her. But ,as she flung her arms around his neck in a tight hug, she just couldn't care. Percy was the one person she didn't hide herself from. She had never been anything but her with Percy, and she didn't plan on starting now.

" Hey Seaweed Brain ." she said with a playful tone to her voice. " Hey Wise Girl " he said, smiling down at him, his shimmering green eyes causing her to melt just a bit. At that moment, she forgot that she was here to look at colleges. All she knew was that she was here in the arms of the one person she loved more than anything else. After Percy offered to carry her bags to the car, while she called her dad to report that she got there safely, she started talking to a girl who seemed to be waiting on some one as well. " Hi , you waiting on someone to ?" the girl asked . " Yeah, my boyfriend ." Annabeth replied. "Cool. Me too. Which one's yours ?" Annabeth pointed near the left exit to Percy, who was telling jokes to a little girl who had been on Annabeth's plane. The little girl, who hadn't stopped crying the entire flight, was now giggling herself silly."See him ?" Annabeth asked. "the dark- haired one ? " "yeah. "Annabeth said, smiling. "He's mine ."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey Guys ! Shoutout to musicspeaktone for faving this story! That inspires me to keep going and making my stuff note, There will be some action scenes. Just MORE couple-related ones. **

Percy.

Percy was really having a nice day until the vampires showed up.

He and Annabeth were on there way back to his appartment to get her unpacked . "Hey Percy ?" Annabeth inquired . "Yeah, Annabeth?"he responded. " Do you mind if we switch back to that Bruno Mars song ?" "Sure. Why not ?" Percy wasn't the biggest Bruno Mars fan, he usually kept the dial on a local rock station, but he had learned that life was easier if he just let Annabeth have her way on the little things. Like music. And who had to drive. And pretty much anything else she asked for. Otherwise, there decisions were _totally _mutual.

Although, when he turned the radio dial back to a current pop station and saw her close her eyes and start singing along to the lyrics of "Just The Way You Are" he had to smile. She just had that effect on him. No matter what might be going on his life, nearly every time Annabeth loosened up even a little, let him see her without all her sheilds up, it forced a smile out of him. Without thinking, he started singing along a little himself. Noticeing this, Annabeth smiled, scooted a bit closer to him and took his free hand in hers. Percy's smile grew bigger as he drove and softly sang with Annabeth while he thought about how lucky he was to be with someone like her. And then he started thinking something in the air didn't feel quite right.

Apparently, Annabeth felt it too. She tapped him on the arm and gave him a look like , " you feel that too ?". He nodded in response, and took a quick look around his surroundings. Then , when he went to check his rearview, he saw it. The lime-green ( really? Lime- Green ?) bug that had been following him since this morning when he left for the airport. He looked over at Annabeth and cast a glance at the bug. She turned to look, and then turned back to him, a quizical look on her face. " That car's followed me all day" he explained. She raised in eyebrow in responce, then said " You said you have a place to leave the car ?" she asked. "Yeah, there's a parking structure a few blocks from my place where I've been leaving it. Why ?". "Is it close ?" she asked. " Yeah like, 5 minutes away."

"Good. Park, then have your sword ready." Percy nodded in confirmation.

As Percy pulled into the parking space, he kept his sword Riptide, in it's pen form at the moment, in hand. As he and Annabeth , who now had her bronze knife strapped to her belt, started towards his appartment, he started getting the smell. Roses and wet horse hair. Not Good. At this point he was looking for the source of the smell, hoping desperatly that a carrige driver had run through a flower shop and a car wash. Finally, he saw them. Two girls in denim cutoffs, tight, white T-Shirts, and pink flip-flops. One with long, curly , red hair and pierceing green eyes, the other with light brown hair, pulled into a single braid down her back, and sharp blue both had the bodies of Highschool senior cheerleaders, and would've been pretty if they weren't so sharp-looking.

Unfourtuneatly, Percy knew not to ignore them because of there looks . " Fool me once, shame on you." he thought to himself. He'd run into these things a few times in the last couple of months ,and they were trouble. There names were Olivia for the brunette, and Krissi for the redhead. And they wer vampire-donkey-cyborgs. Okay, so, _litteraly_ they were called_ Kampe, _but Percy thought his description was more accurate. They each had , without the mist of course, glowing red eyes, vampire teeth, one bronze leg and one donkey leg. So, yeah. Pretty scary. But what was more scary was that they both seemed to have a thing for Percy. Over the months that he had seen them, they had talked about making him a Kampe servent instead of killing him. Stateing that they would hate to, in there words " end the life of such a fine male specimen."

Percy might've been flattered , if he wasn't being threatened with eternal servitude. He'd fought them enough to know he could handle them himself, and with Annabeth with him he knew these two were no match. Although, one thing did worry him. Annabeth was what you might call the jealous type . Whenever another a girl flirted with, hit on , or just stared at him, ( which, for reasons he didn't quite comprehend, happened quite a lot) she would get aggresive and make it clear to the other girl that Percy was taken. Usually, by kissing Percy in a way very obvious to the other girl. Not that Percy minded. Like, _at all_. So, he had a feeling she wasn't going to appreciate two donkey witchs threatening to make him there eternal boy-toy. Oh, boy, was this fight going to be interesting.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: What's good with ya! Okay, guys . Couple things . First. BIG shoutouts to Lainie425 and Christian13 for faving/following me and my story. Second. Reviews help a lot. Even criticisim, I can use . Just no hate please. Last. Do you guys think I should tell the stories one by one( finish one , then do next one ) or have them in no real order? leave a review, tell me what you think !**

_**Disclamier: I don't own PJO, HoO or anything else Rick Riordan has brought into creation.I'm not nearly as awesome as him.**_

Annabeth.

Annabeth had always considered herself to be a pretty level-headed person.(Gods, she was dating Percy Jackson. That should say it all right there.) Patient, understanding, usually slow to anger. But two _Kampi_ trying to destroy her and her boyfriend, while simultainiously trash-talking her _and hitting_ on her boyfriend? Yeah,that would get under her skin pretty fast. When Percy had first pionted the monsters out to her, she had analyzed there weaknesses pretty quickly. They were vain cretures so , if insulted, they became extra nasty

. The donkey leg was flesh and easy to target and, "Annabeth !" Percy yelled, tackleing her to the ground . She was about to unload and call a Percy a few things that might've lost this story it's T rating, when she saw what had happend .One of those little witchs had charged her." I must have zoned out looking for weakness on them !" she thought sheepishly. If not for Percy tackleing her,she would've been a Kampi servant right now. She didn't have time to reflect on this, however, as the_ Kampi _had recovered from there failed charge, and were ready to attack again.

Annabeth barely had time to get up and draw her knife before the _Kampi_ were on her again. They seemed to think she was a weak link, that she would be no problem at all to take out . They'd change there minds when the red haired one, Krissie ,she had called herself, lost one of her hands. " You little snot !" she screamed, baring closer to Annabeth, her fangs outstrecthed. "You stay away from her !" Percy roared, Chargeing Krissi. The _Kampi_ hissed and danced out of Percy's slash radius, springing of a near-by building to shoot herself at him, while Percy was dealing with the brunette, Olivia. Annabeth then realized she was just sitting there, letting Percy do all the fighting.

When Percy and Krissi collided, they brought Olivia down with them, and while Krissi and Percy were still dazed from the impact, she bared her fangs and shot strait for Percy's neck saying, " Iwant a kiss , son of of the sea god!". Running on instinct now, Annabeth grabbed Olivia by her braid and pulled her back and away from Percy screaming " Stay OFF my boyfriend !" before driving her knife into Olivia's back. Sha screached and slowly dissolved into a fine, gold dust. After helping Percy up ,"Thanks Wise Girl." he mumbled, still a bit dazed, they turned to face Krissi who had finally recovered from slamming into Percy earlier. Krissi eyed the situation, and hissed in a mixture of anger and fear. Now they had her. Krissi was obviously not used to fighting by herself. She was a pack hunter, not a lone wolf. Now, she had no one to hide behind.

"Hey,guys" she said , switching back to a human voice,"no one else has to get hurt here." Annabeth and Percy exchanged a quick glance and smiled. They both chargd Krissi at full speed , brandishing there blades, and she took of running. Annabeth looked back at Percy and couldn't help but notice how good he looked in action. His jet-black hair whipping back from his grimly determined face, his sea-green eyes shimmering with energy,sweat forceing his T-shirt to cling to his chest. She then remembered she was chasing down a killer monster, and decided yhat oogling her boyfriend could wait.

She took aim and flung her knife at Krissi, hitting her mark perfectly. The blade sank into her donkey leg, causeing her to fall, screaming and curseing all the while. Percy saw his chance, and took it. He pivoted on his heel to stop where Kirre had fallen and soundly lopped off her head, causing her body to explode in a shower of golden dust. Annabeth looked at Percy and did the only thing she could think to do. She flung her arms around his neck, tangled her fingers in his hair, and kissed him. It took him a minute, but Percy responded without abandon. They stayed there a while , until finally they need to take a breath. Annabeth rested her head against Percy's shoulder for a second, then looked up to him smiling at her with that goofy, lopsided grin on his face. She ws sure expression mirrored his , so she couldn't talk. "Sorry I was out of it at the start there, Seaweed Brain.". "No problem Wise Girl, we won didn't we ?". "Yeah, I guess we did." As they walked back to the car, holding hands the whole way back, Annabeth couldn't help but think about Percy pushing her out of harm's way. She'd be dead right now if it wasn't for him. When they got back to the car, she leaned over and put her head on Percy's shoulder and whispered " Know something, Percy ? I'm really lucky to have you."

"I'm pretty lucky myself, Wise Girl."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: What's good, my beutiful readers ! Chapter 5 shoutout to Shaylie-Daughter-of-Poseidon for reviewing and following this story. It does help !**

**Disclaimer:**

**I don't own PJO, HoH, or anything else Rick Riordan has brought into creation. I'm not nearly that awesome.**

Percy.

Percy never thought he'd be more freaked out about someone coming to his appartment than about the fact that he had just done battle with two mythical greek monsters, but, there it was. In battle, he was cool, confidant, in control. Just the opposite of how he felt right now. Now he was very aware that he and Annabeth ascending the steps to his appartment, carrying a surprisingly small amount of luggage. "You're sure you didn't leave anything at the airport ?" Percy asked, concerned that Annabeth wouldn't have everything she'd need. "For the 20 th time, Percy, yes, I'm sure. I told you , I just have a very efficent way of packing." " Alright, Annabeth. I just want to make sure you're not without anything you need,"

Annabeth turned to him, smiling." I can handle myself , Percy. You don't need to worry about me." Percy was about to protest that he knew she could take care of herself, when Annabeth pecked him, quickly, on the cheek. "But it's very sweet of you to." He returned her smile, then took out his door key as they reached his appartment. Building H10. Percy had been so excited to find a place this nice on his budget. It was a two bedroom, two bath, 7th floor, wedge of paradise. Well, for a little over 90 bucks a month, utilities included, it was a paradise

. The reason the place was so cheap was the people on the other side of the interior wall.

They were ALWAYS yelling. Half the time , Percy couldn't tell if they were fighting, or making some kind of sick, depraved love. When he explained this to Annabeth, she smiled and asked how he could live like that. "Well, magic helps." He said, gestureing to the complex markings on the wall.". " Silencing runes ?" "Yeah . The Hecate cabin can be really handy, if you get on there good side." The place was fairly roomy, giving room for at least three people. The walls were painted a light emerald-green. A personal touch Percy was actually pretty proud of. Usually he was useless when it came to stuff like that, but the color looked pretty good, he thought. Kind of tied the room walls were decorated lightly with personal pictures. Him, Grover, and Annabeth after there first quest (long story). Him and Annabeth by the lake after there friends had dumped them in the lake.(shorter, but awesome story) Stuff like that. Annabeth asked for a tour, which Percy gladly provided.

"And here's the guest room." said after a tour that took way longer than it should have. They were both pretty easily distracted, so they kept getting off topic." Hey, where are my bags?" Annabeth asked. "Huh?" "My bags Seaweed Brain." "Oh. In the other bedroom." "Why ?" " Well, I'm not making you sleep in hear. The other bed's bigger." "But that's your room." " Then why's all my stuff in here?" Percy asked, opening the drawer to reveal all of his clothes. Annabeth shook her head in exasperation. "You're a headache somtimes, you know that?" But she was smiling, so Percy figured she couldn't be that upset.

"Come on," He said putting an arm around her,"let's get you settled in." After getting her unpacked, they sat on his faded black leather couch, watching a B-List horror flick about some kind of prehistoric Horseshoe crab with sickles for hands, running aroud killing people. Although, Percy couldn't concentrate on the movie was the fact that Annabeth was here with him. And that the next day she'd still be with him. Everything about that felt so... right."Hey, Annabeth?" "Yeah, Percy?" " I'm really glad you're here with me. " "Me too, Seaweed Brain, Me too."

.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: What's good, my readers. shoutout to musicspeaktome for reviewing. her's your upload! So, here, we delve a bit deeper into the darker side of 't read if you're under 6 months old. :)**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HoO or any other Rick Riordan brainchild.**_

Annabeth.

Annabeth's stay with Percy was going well until she could vividly picture him dying. Things were going great at first. She and Percy were getting along even better than normal. There conversations were fluid, they laughed a lot, Percy hadn't even said anything that made her want to punch him in the head yet ! But, Annabeth hadn't forgotten why she was actually in NYC.

All of the schools she had gotten accepted to were fantastic. The only thing she had worry about was picking one. " I can't belive so many places accepted me !" Annabeth said excitedly. " I can't belive **a** place accepted me." Percy said of his acceptence into NYU. Even Annabeth was a bit surprised. She loved Percy dearly, and would never want to be with anyone else, but he had never been the strongest , she was proud of him. "Guess they're really hurting for students,huh?" he had joked about his acceptance.

She had actually thought about going there herself. It seemed a pity to be that close to Percy and barely see him. She had relayed this idea to him, but he shot it down right away. "No, Annabeth. I don't want you going somewhere lesser than where you could go because of me. You're way too smart for that, and you know it." he said, smileing. "I just don't like the idea of us being in the same city for once and almost never seeing each-other." "I think we'll fidure something out. " Percy said, with a look in his eyes like he had a solution that he wasn't quite ready to share with her.

Regardless, things were going great. Until the nightmares came. She'd been sleeping in Pery's appartment for over a week. She still didn't feel right taking Percy's bed, but he was right , it _was _really comfy. Then ,one night, as she felt the gentle heaviness of sleep overtake her, she suddenly found herself standing alone in a huge dark plain of nothing. Then she saw it. A huge, looming gallow with a shadowy figure having a noose slipped around it's neck. Then the image stopped. The figures didn't stop moving, the entire scene did.

As if it was a scene out of a movie and someone had hit pause, cauing the whole scene to stop dead. Hesitantly, Annabeth took a step foward. As she did this, the image moved a frame. She started moving faster and faster, until she had broken into a full run. As Annabeth ran, she saw the shadow figure become clearer. She saw it become a male figure, then a leanly mucsled body became visable, then jet-black the huge,green eyes ,then the well-tanned skin. Until the figure became Percy Jackson. And then the noosed man dropped.

Annabeth sprinted towards him, and then realized she wasn't getting any closer . So she simpily dropped to her knees, as she was forced to watch Percy slowly dyed in front of her. His normally tan face turning a sickly pale . The shimmering green eyes that she had gotten to know so well over the past seven years turn a milky, dead, white. His soft, smileing lips become limp and bloody. Then Annabeth screamed. Finally her voice came out in a strangled scream. "Percy! No! No, no, please don't leave me!" She woke in a cold sweat, screaming her lungs out. After about ten seconds , Percy burst into the room, looking more scared then she had ever seen him. Words seemed to be coming out of his mouth, but all she could she could focus on was the fact that he was here. She flung herself towrds him and crushed her mouth to his. She needed to feel the warmth coming off his body, to remind herself that he was her, alive, with her.

They stayed like that, melded to each other, inseperable, if only for a minute. When they seperated, whispering into her ear. Percy Asked what happened,Are you hurt?" "No, I just had a bad dream. A really,really bad dream. But your here. You're here, your alive, and that's all that matters right now." she said in a rushed, breathless tone.

Percy rocked her in his arms until her breathing steadied. "Annabeth, just try and get a little rest okay ?" As he went to carry her back to bed , she grabbed his hand tightly." Acttually, Percy , this nightmare really freaked me out , so I was thinking..." she said, looking nervously from him to the open space beside her in bed and back again. "Oh, uh, yeah, yeah sure." Percy stuttered, his face turning a deep shade of crimson at the exciting and possibly terryfiing thought of sharing a bed with Annabeth. As Percy gently slipped under the covers next to Annabeth, he found it actually felt natural to be beside her. Withou thinking, he slipped his arms around her waist, and softly pulled her to him. "Percy " Annabeth whispered into his ear. "Yeah?"

"Thank you. Thank you for staying with me the way you have, for loving me , and for being better to me than I could ever deserve. I love you , Percy, I love you." "Annabeth... I,I don't deserve anyone like you, I love you too, Annabeth." They didn't say a thing for the rest of the night. They just lay there, holding each other, making each other safe. Until,"Annabeth ?" "Yeah, Percy ?" "I want you to stay" " What do mean? " "Here. I want you to move in here. With me." " Percy" she turned to him. "You're serious ?" "Yeah." "Oh, Percy. Yes. Yes of course I'll stay." "You will ?" Percy asked excitedly. "Yes, Seaweed Brain, Of course I'm serious" She beamed up at him. He returned the expression. "Hey, Percy." "Yeah?" "let's go to sleep." "Okay. Goodnight Wise Girl." "Goodnight Seaweed Brain."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Over 500 veiws ! You guys rock harder than Apollo himself ! Okay, so last time things got kinda dark, so this time around, we'll ere on the lighter side of things. Also, some one-shots coming up. Probably Thailico, and Leyna, later on. And one that focuses on Annabeth after and during Percy's dissaperence pre- Lost Hero. Please review and share your thoughts. PS. This chapter gets a litte fluffy towards the end. Just a Warning. ;) **

_**Disclaimer:**__** I don't own blah, blah, blah. You guys know the routine, let's get to the story !**_

**Percy****.**

It had never really dawned on Percy how quickly an Olympian God bursting into a room could kill a moment. As it turned out, pretty damned fast. Of course, that relaization had come a few days after Annabeth's first nightmare. After the night they had, ahem, shared sleeping quarters, it had become a routine thing. Annabeth would go to bed , and when she would wake up screaming, Percy would rush in, calm her down , slip under the covers, and fall asleep beside her. Until, one night, he had followed her to bed without thinking, and she hadn't said anything, Now, when she wake up, he was right beside her."I'm starting to prefer it this way" Annabeth had mumbled sleepily into his shirt one night. And with that, it became a routine.

As happy as Percy was about their sleeping arangements,a part of him was starting to get worried. Annabeth had assured him that it was just the stress of deciding on a school and getting herself moved in here at the same time, and that they were just "bad dreams". Although, from what she had said in her sleep, they sounded pretty terrible. And, for some reason, they all seemed to involve Percy leaving her. Not, like , breaking up with her, but him dying, leaving her alone. " You know I'll never let that happen, right?" he'd tried to reassure her one night, after a more vocal nightmare."Yeah, I know, Percy. I guess now that the two of us are serious and everything,I guess I'm starting to think more about our future. And every time I picture a future with us together, well, my stupid analityical brain as to come up with an alternate situation.

I can never see you leaving me, so I the only way i'm ever alone is if you're" Annabeth fought back tears as she choked out "gone." " I don't like thinking that way, so I push the thoughts away. And then, at night, I guess they all just bubble up." " Aw, Annabeth. You don't need to think about any future without me in it, alright ? I plan on being in your life for a long time. Or, at least, as long as I'm welcome."

He smiled down at Annabeth, who had gently nuzzled her face into his chest. " Well, you may be in for a pretty long stay, then, Seaweed Brain." Percy grinned, hearing the playful smile in her voice. It felt a bit odd, them talking about their future. But, Percy reasoned, it also felt kind of appropriate. They were 19, about to head to college, living together. They weren't kids anymore. These were the kind of things they needed to talk about, if they were going to have a relationship on any kind of permenant basis. And Percy, well, Percy couldn't see himself ever really being without Annabeth and he hoped, more than anything, that she felt that way about him.

He brushed a lock of honey-blonde hair away from her ear and whispered, "Annabeth, you remember what you said a few weeks ago, about being able to take care of yourself ?" " Yeah ?" "Well, I know that, Annabeth. I know that you're never going to _need_ me to take care of you. But if there is anything you do need, anything you ever need help with, or anything you just don't want to face alone. I want you to know, that I am always going to be there." They were both silent for a moment, the gentle night breeze rustleing through the trees the only audible sound. Percy hoped he'd said the right things. Hoped he'd used the right words to make Annabeth understand that he meant every word bit of what he'd said

. Then she slipped her arms around his chest, resting her head against his shoulder." Oh, Percy. I'm always going to need you. That's never gonna change." "You mean that ?" She turned to look at him, those perfect, grey eyes of hers shineing with happiness. "Of course. You make me happy, Percy. You always have." That was the most wonderful thing she could've told him. It made him think, maybe he did deserve her. "No, I don't, but she seams to think I do." It was an almost perfect moment. And then her mom burst in.

_**Hoo**_**, boy. How's this gonna work out ? What does Athena want, what's going on in Annabeth's head, and how is Athena going to react to Annabeth sharing a bed with Percy ? ( Tell you the truth, even **_**I wanna find that one out.) J E out.**_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: What's good, guys ! JE back, with the next installment of my surprisingly, to me any way, popular 900 views, that's incredible ! Shout-outs to akd007 and asked, so I'll tell. I plan to continue the Percabeth (FTW) part for a few more chapters, then move on to Jasper and finally to Frazel. I know what you're thinking, "Man, JE, shut the hell up and get on with the story." Well, since you asked so nicely, let's jump right in !**

Annabeth.

Annabeth loved her mother. She truly did. But apparating in her bedroom, while Percy had been trying,(successfully, up til that point) to calm her down after a horrible nightmare ? Well, it made it just a bit harder to remember that she loved her. "Annabeth, child I must speak with you at once." Athena said, with an air of natural authority, which , as the godess of wisdom, seemed pretty appropriate. "Mom, if you needed to talk to me, couldn't you do it in the daytime? " Annabeth wondered sleepily.

" No, my child, I'm afraid this couldn't wa- What is he doing in your bedroom?" Athena asked, appartently only just realizing Percy was in bed with her daughter. " huh, wazat ?" Percy blinked the grogginess from his eyes,"Me ?" "Yes, Percy Jackson," Athena said, stareing daggers through him," you, what are you doing in this bedroom ?" "I could ask you the same question, accept the answer to mine would be a lot less obvious." Percy said with a bit of sleepiness still in his voice. "Well,regardless, I have something to discuss with my daughter, and don't belive having you questioning my every other word would help the situation. So, leave us." "Mother, this is our house !" Athena's face seemed to sour a bit from Annabeth using the word "our", but it was, after all , their house.

"I'ts okay, Annabeth, I'll go. Not like it's my house or anything." Percy grumbled, as he rose to leave. Annabeth quickly grabbed his hand, pulling him back down to the bed. "No,Percy. Anything she can say to me, she can say to you." One thing that irratated Annabeth about her mother was that , for the last three years our so, she had regarded Percy rather coldly. She claimed it was because she thought they were too young to be acting as they did with each other, but truly, it was because Percy was a child of Poseidon.

Annabeth knew that, and had never expected to fall for any sea child, much less one like Percy, but , you can't help who you fall in love with, so Athena would just have to deal with it. She had told her this, of course, but Athena had acted like Annabeth was a child telling her she was going to be an astronaut or a fairy princess. Something silly and childish, something that would never come to pass. But, now that it had become apparant that they were both commited to making the relationship work, Athena had been treating Percy more harshly than usually. "_She probably thinks she'll scare him off that way. Good luck."_ Annabeth thought, grinning.

"No, it's fine. Really. You know pretty much everything your mom says gives me a headache anyway." Percy remarked , smileing. Annabeth returned the smile, much to he mother's chagrin, and let go of his hand, allowing him to slip out of the bedroom door. "Why are you sharing your bed with that" Athena looked like she was mentally straining for a nicer word "boy ?" "Beacause we're a 19 year-old couple with our own appartment !" Percy yelled from the livingroom, while Annabeth smiled sweetly in responce to her mother's incredulous stare. "Look, didn't you say you had to tell me something important ?" " Yes, yes, I did." Athena said, regaining her compouser. "I understand that you've been plauged with nightmares over the past few months." "Yeah." "Well, i've come to explain. "

"It would appear that Hypnos , the god of sleep, I'm sure you know, has not quite forgiven me for our earlier dissagreement." " You mean the one where you said that he and his children were nothing but a snoring group of dolts with the collective brain power of a single-celled bacteria ? The _disagreement _ that resulted in the entire cabin having insomnia for two weeks ?" "Well, he acused me of arogance about my intellectual standing." " Alright, mom, whatever. I guess it's Hypnos giving me these nightmares." Annabeth concluded, shuddering at the memory of seeing Percy's pale,dying face hanging from that horrible noose. _No,she chided herself, he's fine. He's in the living room and when my mom leaves, he'll come back in, come to bed, and fall asleep with me. He Is Not Gone._ "Yes, i'm afraid Hypnos is the cause of these dreams." "And how do I get them to stop ?"

Athena adressed her daughter sadly."I'm afraid that it is up to you to make the nightmares end. They will continue until you have seen your greatest fear, faced it, and conqured then will you find peace in sleep." She then began to shimmer in the way that she did before she would dissolve and dissapear. "Wait, mom! What do you mean conquer my fear ?" "I will say this, child. Your greatest weakness will come from where you dirive the most comfort. The one who has more power over you than anyone else." "Wait!" _CRACK !_ She was gone.

For a few minutes after that, she just sat there in thought. _ My greatest fear, my greatest weakness, is my biggest comfort ?_ That made no sense. Until she heard a light tapping on the door. "Hey Annabeth, can I come back in ? _Percy. _No that was rediculas _Percy, her greatest comfort ? Yeah. But her biggest weakness ? Her Fear? _Never. She wasn't afraid of him at all. He would pluck out his own eyes before hurting her. She knew that. "Annabeth ?" Percy's voice was getting worried. "Your fine. Come in." "Annabeth what happened ?" She relayed the events of the past few minutes in little detail. " Your greatest fear Is your comfort? " I'm not sure I get it ether. Just come to bed, okay ?"

Percy slowly approached the bed and quietly slipped underneath the sheets. He took his usual position. Slipping his arms around her waist, he let his hands rest gently on her hips. She buried her face into his shirt, just wanting to envelop herself in him. To see, hear,feel,taste,smell nothing but him. He tilted her head up bit and leaned closer to her ear. "Annabeth, if I ever do something to hurt you, or to make you feel not safe with me, well , you'll tell me okay ?" She looked up at him and smiled a bit. "Oh, Percy, it's nothing you've done. I promise." "Alright, but I still want to know if I ever make you think you aren't safe with me. You always are, I want to be sure you know that." She locked eyes with him. He was terrified that he had done something,_ anything,_ to hurt or scare her. "I know that, Percy. " She gently pressed her mouth to his, wanting to prove what she said to be true. " I also know that I love you, Percy Jackson. You, and only you." "I...Annabeth, I" she heard Percy's voice break a little , "I love you, to Annabeth. More than I could ever deserve to be loved do I love you." She couldn't help herself. She kissed him again, but this time, neither one made any move to stop it. She wraped her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his soft, dark hair; wanting nothing more than him. She allowed herself to become lost, wrapped up in an embrace so wonderful, so perfect, part of her didn't think it could be real. When they finally parted ( for need of air , mostly) she snuggled into his chest and, nightmares be damned, she fell asleep. Next to the man she loved.

**A/N: Wow, that one came out better than I expected! As always, please review, and stay tuned:) JE out.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:What's good, guys! JE back with another chapter! Shout out to smilestogo for reviewing, faving, following, and having a really cool username! BIG ups to my new beta calwilkenson.( I'll be calling him Wilk, on-site.) He's a really cool dude, my personal friend, and a HUGE perfectionist, so expect the chapters to be a lot more grammatically sound. They may also be a bit slower to be posted, but they will be posted, 'scouts honor'. Alright, let's hit it. ;)**

Percy.

Percy had been hoping for Annabeth to get a restful sleep for weeks. Unfortunately, when she finally did, he couldn't be all that happy about it. Annabeth had still been pretty tight-lipped about what it was going to take to end her nightmares. All she had given him to go on was what she had told him last week, when her mom decided to 'pop in', that she had to face whatever fear was causing her dreams. What that fear was, Percy was sure of. Him.

The dreams were, from what she had told him and what she had said in her sleep, all about him dying: sometimes murder, sometimes an accident, sometimes he died in battle. Whatever the cause, he always ended up dead, with her watching him. Her screaming the breath out of her lungs, running towards him, but never quite reaching him. Never being able to save him. Percy had done everything he could think of to reassure her that wouldn't happen, and that he wouldn't leave her like that.

"Hey, Wise Girl, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. I'll make sure I'm around to annoy you for a long, long time." he'd tried to tell her, smiling. She hadn't returned the smile. She'd just given him a worried look. "Percy, you keep telling me that, but, how can you know? How can you promise me something you can't be sure of yourself?". For some reason, there was only one thing he really focused on there. He'd called her 'Wise Girl', a nickname he'd given her when they were 13. Usually when he did that, whatever she said, she called him 'Seaweed Brain', her nickname for him.

That time, she'd just called him by his name. That actually seemed kind of trivial, but it worried him. "Percy?" Annabeth said, clearly still expecting an answer. "Well, Annabeth, I don't know that I can give you a logical reason, there probably isn't one. But, I guess, I just really like living. I like staying up until Gods know when watching bad horror movies, and drinking Coke, and waking up next to you with the sun cracking through our shades. I just really like my life, and as nice as I'm sure Elysium is, I not ready to go just yet. I _want _to be alive, Annabeth, and I _want _to stay here, with you. So, I'm going to fight, if I have to, to do that."

Annabeth turned around and wrapped her arms around Percy's neck. "Believe me, Seaweed Brain," _well, that's better,_ Percy thought, "I want that too." As good as it was to hear that, Percy could tell that she still hadn't felt better. The only way for that to happen was for Annabeth to get over her fears and finally rid herself of the nightmares. And, this was something that he could do nothing about, except sit and watch the girl he loved suffer. Or, at least, that's what he had thought. Then someone had offered a way for him to get rid of Annabeth's nightmares once and for all.

It had been a chilly night in mid-August. Percy was lying awake, waiting for the scream that he knew would eventually come, for the trembling, frantic girl to fly up from the mattress, needing comfort. But the scream never came. Percy got up to take a look at her, but to his surprise, she looked fine. Annabeth just lay there, sleeping peacefully, with no evidence of fear or loss on her face, just a look of contentment. Percy smiled, thinking that maybe, Hypnos had given her a night off. A night of rest. Then he saw the figure beside her. A male figure, about his build, curled up in the sheets. He quickly grabbed for the sheet, but found his hand pass straight through it.

Percy stood there, confused as to why his hand was suddenly transparent, when a thought occurred to him. He stepped quickly over to the opposite side of the bed, and found what he had expected to find. Himself. Just him, sleeping in the same position he always slept in. "Are you curious as to what is going on, Percy Jackson?" Oh, no. He knew that voice.

"This wouldn't be Athena, would it?" Percy asked, without turning around.

"Percy, it is polite to look in one's direction when speaking to her." Percy turned to address the goddess standing in his bedroom. Yep, Athena. Just his luck. "Percy," Athena said with a serious tone to her voice, (well, more serious than usual) "I need to speak with you."

"What am I doing here, and in my bed at the same time?"

"You're still there, this just a mental image."

"Alright, I've been through a lot weirder. What do we need to talk about?"

"Annabeth. I know the nature of her fears and how you can help get rid of them."

"What ? How?!" Percy asked frantically. A chance to get rid of Annabeth's nightmares? This he had to hear.

"Percy, to dispel the nightmares, Annabeth must be rid of what causes her those fears. Only then, will the dreams cease. I do know the source of her dreams, but you will not like the solution."

"What is it? How can we stop her nightmares? What do we get rid of?"

"Percy, the thing that is causing the nightmares is _you._"

"What?" Percy said in disbelief. It couldn't be. He'd never do anything to hurt Annabeth. He'd leap into the bowels of Tarturus before doing that.

Athena nodded, "Annabeth is afraid, more than anything, of losing you. You have more power over her than anyone or anything else. She cannot live with of the thought of being without you."

"ButI'd never do anything to hurt her. I love her. More than anything."

"I've never doubted your love for Annabeth, but are you sure that her loving you is safe for her?"

"What are you talking about? What does this have to do with getting rid of Annabeth's nightmares?"

"Losing you to death is too much for her to bear, but if you were to leave her on your own accord, she would hurt, badly, but she would survive."

"I don't understand. How will that help her overcome some fear?"

"She is terrified of losing you, of living without you. The grief of you dying would crush her, but anger, rage, frustration. These are feelings she will survive."

"You're asking me to leave Annabeth? The one person in the world who brings me any little bit of happiness? You want me to give that up?"

"Something must be done soon, Percy. If we allow these dreams to continue, Annabeth will go mad. She will be nothing more than a depraved animal, lost to us forever." Athena said, with more pain in her voice than Percy had ever heard. "I'm sure you will need a few moments to process this. I will leave. Once you have made your mind up, speak my name, and I will allow time to pass once more. Think hard, Percy Jackson." _'CRACK!'_ She was gone.

Percy sat on the edge of the bed, trying to gather his thoughts after what had just happened. So it had come to this. Leave Annabeth, the one girl who made him happy, gave him a reason to think the world wasn't such a sucky place, or keep her, until she went insane from her nightmares, then lose her. Knowing Annabeth was frozen in a time bubble and couldn't hear him, Percy yelled. "NO! NO, GODS, THIS ISN'T FAIR!" Percy had always considered being with Annabeth to be a kind of reward for all of the hell his early teen years had been. And now, he had to let the one bright spot in all of it go? "NO! I refuse this, Athena! I won't leave her, and I won't let her go out of her mind! I'll figure this out. I Will Keep Her. You hear me, Athena?"

Off in the distance, he thought he heard, "I truly hope you're right."

**A/N: So? What did you guys think? Wilk really did a great first job! Just so you guys know, I'm using a new word system. So the chapters may look a bit different. Please, as always, review. JE out. ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: What's good with ya, my readers! Okay, shout-outs go to Genaegis,Poptartlover2000,and Immanerd98 for reviewing, faving and following me and my story. Some news on me; my first One-shot is up!(shout-out to Innoverse and IamNyssaDaughterofHephaestus for reviewing it.) Please check it out and review! Also, I already have an Idea for my next story, a spin on Vega Vendetta's story "For the love of Death'. Though, less cursing in mine, that's just how I do things. :) As always, BIG ups to my boy Wilks, my beta, bro, and critic. U rule Man!. (Collective 'SHUT UP !' from site). Alright, alright, I'm gettin' to the story, jeez. **

Annabeth.

Annabeth's morning started off strangely. Firstly, she had, for the first time in weeks, slept peacefully. No nightmare had been summoned from the crevasses of her mind to cause her to wake in a fit of terror, clinging desperately to Percy's chest to calm herself down. Hmm, Percy. Where was that kelp-headed boyfriend of hers? She slowly peeled back the covers, not entirely happy with having to end the pleasant grogginess that the good night's sleep had left her with, and grabbed the nearest clothes she could find. A light blue T-shirt that had once been Percy's, but had shrunk over numerous washings, and a pair of denim cut-offs. She made her way to the bathroom, and inspected herself in the mirror. The outfit was a bit wrinkled, but looked fine. Her hair was a mess, but she simply pulled it into a quick ponytail.

There. She looked good enough. Annabeth glanced at the small shower the bathroom housed and thought 'Hm. Probably should've showered first.' She looked down at the out-fit and shrugged. 'Well, anyway, time to face the day!' Annabeth thought, smiling. She walked out of the bathroom, her feet padding gently on the soft, plush, tan carpet of the bedroom. As she approached the door, she thought that really was odd that Percy hadn't woken up with her. He was never up before her. She'd ask when she found him. She turned he knob and stepped through... into their bedroom. Into the exact same room she'd thought she just exited.

She turned around quickly to find the most stunning woman she had ever seen. The woman had a lithe, trim body, with a perfect figure tucked snuggly into her pure white tanktop and blue jeans, and long, silken hair that flowed mid-way down her back. The second Annabeth got a good look at the woman, she knew it could be no other than the goddess of love, Aphrodite. "I suppose you weren't quite expecting me, were you dear?" The goddess smiled. Annabeth could only stand there, stunned, as Aphrodite sat down on the bed and patted the space beside her. Annabeth took a deep breath and sat down beside a goddess.

"Oh, Annabeth." Aphrodite said, a sad smile on her face. "You've been through quite a lot in the past few weeks, haven't you?"

"You mean the nightmares?" the first words she had said out loud that day.

"Yes, my dear, the nightmares. Those have been terrible, from what I've observed. Losing one you love is an awful feeling isn't?

"Ye-Yes" Annabeth choked out, her voice strangled from tears she was fighting to keep back. "Yes, it really is."

"Annabeth, I really shouldn't be here, but, well, you and Percy have always been one of my favorites. I just couldn't stand to watch you like this. I came to offer a bit of help."

"You know to make the dreams stop?" Annabeth asked hopefully.

"No, I'm afraid you still have to tackle the fear causing these dreams."

"Why does everyone keep telling me that? What fear? Percy dying? I can't stop that!"

"No, dear, not that. Think. Think about what is happening between the lines of those dreams."

"Stop it! Stop being so cryptic! I don't understand it!"

"I'm afraid I can't help you anymore than this. Just remember Annabeth, _love_ is never a weakness."

'CRACK'! She was gone.

Annabeth grabbed a pillow, buried her face in it, and screamed her lungs out. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HH!" She took a few deep breaths and tried to gather her thoughts. Why? Why couldn't the Gods just tell her what she needed to do? They'd never had a problem with that before! She heard the door creak open, and turned to see Percy walking in. Annabeth turned on her side to face him.

"Morning, Wise Girl. Wow, looks like you had pretty interesting morning, eh?" he gestured to the room around them.

Annabeth surveyed her surroundings. Aphrodite had rearranged their bedroom. The curtains had become white lace, as had the bed sheets. The whole room, really, had become a lot lacier. It was a bit much for her taste.

"Yeah, looks like."

"What is it with her and lace?" Percy said, jokingly to himself.

"Percy?" Annabeth replied with a serious edge to her voice.

"Yeah?"

"I think we need to figure a few things out."

"Alright, such as?"

"My dreams. I need you to help me work out what my dreams mean."

"Why do you want my help? Shouldn't we get someone a little more qualified?"

"Well, who knows me better than you?"

"Hmm, good point. Let's get started."

**A/N: Sorry to end on a cliff hanger, but I think the next chapter will actually be the last Percabeth one, so I needed to build a little suspense. As always, please leave your reviews and thoughts on future chapters and stories. Sorry about the late update, by the **

**way. Wilks and I have had some trouble with our e-mail the past few days. Also, if you have some ideas for any future stories, feel free to PM me. JE out. ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: What's good, guys! So, here it is. It's gonna be a loooooooooooong one. Don't worry though, I'll try to keep your interest .Shout-out to Herpderp3.14159 for following my story. As per usual, Big** **Ups to Wilks, and all that he does.;). Just so you know, I'll be switching POVs a few times. You'll see why. Alright, people, let's do this! **

**Percy**.

So, this was it. Seeing her on the ground, writhing in pain. Watching her normally soft, perfect, little face contort in into a mask of anguish and horror. Wanting nothing more than to reach out to her, take her in his arms, to offer her some type of comfort, Percy knew that his touch would just push her further into the grip of the fear she was trying so desperately to fight. Pure hell. This is the feeling that fills you as you watch the one you love suffer, maybe die, and just stand there, helpless. _Gods,_Percy prayed silently, clasping his hands together, _let her survive. Take anything else. My home, my sanity, take my life if you have to, just not her._All Percy could think of was of the horrible deity that had donethis. Just an hour ago. Just one hour.

She had looked so. . . her, sitting there, her eyes half-closed, gently biting her lower lip, the way she always did when she was deep in thought.

"Annabeth. ANNABETH!" Percy yelled, shaking her from her stupor.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. Sorry."

"Annabeth, look, I'm trying to help you with these nightmares, but it's hard when all you'll tell me is that I die in all of them. There's something else. Something you're not telling me. I can't help if I don't know what I'm helping with."

"Percy I'm. . . I'm sorry, all right? I can't go into detail about every little thing."

"Oh, come on, Annabeth. We both know that's a crock. You know there is something else to this, and you're deliberately choosing not to tell me."

"Gods, Percy, just leave it, okay? I've told you all I can. "

"No, you haven't. I want to help Annabeth, but I need to know more about these dreams."

"Percy, look, **I can't. **Please, please do not make re-live any of that more than I already do." Annabeth said, her voice catching on the last half of the sentence. Percy felt a familiar weight settle on his chest at the sight of his girlfriend close to tears, a sight he had seen entirely too often over the past few months.

He scooted a bit closer to Annabeth and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Annabeth, I'm sorry. I don't want you re-living those nightmares any more than you want to," Percy whispered, his lips close enough to her ear to brush against the soft skin. "But we need to know more about the fears that are causing them. Look, if it gets too intense, we can stop. Just think. Please."

Annabeth raised her eyes to meet Percy's, finding a surprising amount of pain layered under the sea-green irises. He hated this just as much she did. The difference was, he was trying to do something about it, trying anything he could think of to help her get rid of the nightmares. Annabeth took a deep breath.

"Okay, Percy. I'll try."

He smiled. "Thanks, Annabeth. We'll try to get this over fast, all right?"

Annabeth nodded quickly. "Right, let's just start from the beginning."

**Annabeth**.

Part of Annabeth wished Percy wasn't so concerned. The Gods had made it clear that _she _had to get rid of these nightmares, so why did he even bother? Why was he trying so hard to do something he just couldn't? But she immediately felt awful for thinking that way. Percy was obviously worried sick about her, and was doing whatever he think of to help. He was also right, in the sense that the only way to beat her fear was to identify it. _Gods, if _he's _the one making sense, then I'm in real trouble, _she thought, rubbing her temples.

"Annabeth, you okay?" Percy asked, rousing her back to the conversation.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Let's try and get this done."

So Annabeth recounted all the details she could recall from her nightmares. Anything that seemed to be a constant, they discussed at length.

"Okay, so, in every scenario I get killed somehow."

"Right."

"Is it always murder?"

"Usually. Sometimes an accident, but usually murder, yeah."

"Is it always the same black void?"

"No, sometimes you die in battle. At camp, in the city, or" Annabeth paused, not wanting to explain the rest.

"Or what?"

"Or the battle on Mount Olympus. Fighting with Luke."

"Luke?"

"Yeah, whenever you die there, it's always fighting with him."

"Luke kills me?" Percy asked, clearly perplexed.

"No, you die trying to help him. Fighting beside him."

"Huh, where are you during all this?"

"Same place I am in every dream. Running towards you. But I never move. I run but I never get any closer, like I'm running on a treadmill."

Percy looked down, a look of concentration plain on his face, "Maybe the dreams are connected to him somehow."

Annabeth shook her head. "No, I don't think it's about him specifically. I think the focal point is me."

"How do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. I just have feeling that the dreams aren't about Luke, or even you. It just feels like it's about me." She noticed Percy was laughing. He chuckled lightly from the back of his throat. "Is there something funny about this that I'm not in on?" Annabeth asked, a bit hurt that Percy could find something to laugh about at that moment.

"Well, it's just. . ." Percy paused.

"Yes?"

"Well, Annabeth, In all the time I've known you, this is the first time I've ever seen you convinced of something you have no proof of! You've never 'just had a feeling' before."

"Oh, shut up, Seaweed Brain!" She said, punching him in the arm.

"Ah, come on! Seven years later, and we're still on that?!" Percy asked in mock frustration.

Annabeth found herself laughing at that expression Percy put on whenever he tried to act annoyed. He could never keep a straight face doing it. It was cute in a very _Percy _way. Soon Percy joined in the laughter, and they were on rolling around on the bed uncontrollably.

"You know something, Percy? You're the only person I've ever met who could make me laugh right now."

"Just doing my job, Wise Girl." Annabeth turned on her side to look at him. A wild smile had spread across his face. The real one, the one that was a little too big for his mouth. Annabeth felt herself deflate a bit. These moments of bliss were going to be few and far between if these nightmares weren't taken care of soon. Until then, he'd just keep worrying. Just keep losing sleep because he'd need to stay up to help her back to sleep. That strengthened her resolve when nothing else had been able to.

"Percy?"

"Yeah, Wise Girl?" he said, still smiling.

"I think I need to go back to sleep."

"Wait, why?"

"Have you ever heard of a lucid dream?"

"Uh, is that where you know you're dreaming and you can control the dream?"

"Right." Annabeth answered, mildly surprised that Percy had known the answer. "If I go back to sleep, I think I'll be able to convert my dream into lucid dream."

"How?"

"Well, you'll need to talk to me while I sleep. That way, I'll be able to break the illusion of the dream around me. I'll find out my fear, beat it back, and get rid of the nightmares."

"Okay, but how will you sleep through me talking in your ear?"

"We'll use the stuff Clovis gave us. You still have it, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. Yeah, it's in the medicine cabinet."

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Let's do it. I'm as ready as I'm going to get."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. I'm just really ready for this to be over."

"Alright, I'll grab the stuff."

**Percy.**

As Percy rifled through the medicine cabinet for the powerful sedative Clovis had traded them in exchange for their help flooding out the Demeter cabin(That had had some unexpected results), he couldn't help but wonder if Annabeth's plan could actually work. The thought of having Annabeth back to herself, of her getting that sparkle back in those stormy grey eyes of her's, where lately there had only been a worrisome amount of fear. It seemed too good to be true. '_Or it could go the other route'. _Percy thought, despite himself, '_She might get so engulfed with fear that she never wakes up. I could lose her forever'_.No. He would not let that happen. Besides, this was Annabeth. Champion of Athena! If she said a plan of hers would work, he was inclined to believe her. '_Yeah, yeah her plan will work fine. I'm just being paranoid.' _

After, more or less, reassuring himself, Percy found what he was looking for. A crystal vial of clear, shining liquid - the perfect sedative. Clovis had promised analmost instantaneous affect. A deep, long sleep. Perfect.

**Annabeth.**

"Alright, you ready?" Percy asked Annabeth, re-entering the bedroom.

"Yeah, let's do this." Annabeth said, eyeing the vial. Percy sat down and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You're sure you want to do this?"

She smiled ruefully. "Not really, but I can't stand these nightmares anymore." Gods, she looked so tired. She wanted, more than anything, for this ordeal to be done. Percy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"Just think, Annabeth, in a few hours this'll all be over."

Annabeth nodded mutely into his chest. "Just make sure you're here when I wake up, Seaweed Brain."

"Always, Wise Girl. Always." Percy lightly kissed the top of her head. "I'll always be waiting." Annabeth placed her hand flat against his chest.

"Percy, in case I don't wake up," Percy pressed his lips to hers, effectively causing the words she'd been about to say to die in her throat.

As they broke apart, he looked at her smiling. "No talking like that, Wise Girl. 'If you don't wake up' doesn't matter, because you will."

"I love you, Percy Jackson. Just promise you won't doubt that."

"Well, after this is all over, you may need to remind me a couple of times."

"Deal." Annabeth closed her fingers around the cool crystal of the vial. "I'm ready."

"Okay" Percy unstopped the bottle and handed it to her. "Bottoms up."

She nodded, tipped the vial's contents back and drank. The liquid was cool and tangy at first, sending a sudden tingle through her, which was quickly replaced with a warm heaviness as she discovered the concoction had an aftertaste similar to that of warm milk. Oh, yeah, she'd be out like a light in a few seconds. She shifted her body to lie down on the bed, but then thought better of it and rested her head in Percy's lap. She had just enough time to look up at that wonderfully dopey smile spread across Percy's face before the world around her dissolved into the realm of dreams.

**A/N:Yes, I got it done! Sorry** **for** **taking so long** **to upload. I can only write when the muses strike me. Guys, Last Percabeth chapter next time! Thanks for reading and please review, it helps so much! **

** JE Out ;)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello! I'm JE and this is the last chapter of the first part of my first story. Yes, this is the last Percabeth chapter. I do plan to write many more Percabeth stories down the line and they will be featured in upcoming chapters of this story. The next part of this story will be the Jasper chapters. I have a really cool idea of where to go with it. I promise not to disappoint you guys. Shout-outs to PalmerPie for following and to Amgraupman and Shaylie-Daughter-of-Poseidon for reviewing! Also shoutouts to jadamichelle,Innoverse, Tajee165, MiraSaya, mr tempestman, Amy's Mischievous Litltle Owl,The Innocent Bystander,PandAfan1123,natilie1668, and Camyrose14 for following, faving, reviewing, my stories. Speaking of stories, go check out the new one-shots I've written after you read this. I think you'll like 'em;) Thank all of you guys for your continued support of me and my story, it all really means a lot. Shout-out to my beta Wilks for all his hard work! Alright, people. Let's do this.;)**

**Percy. **

As the sedative took effect, Percy could see Annabeth's body relax as it transitioned itself quickly into a state of deep sleep. Her shoulders slumped, her arms and legs went entirely lax, her breathing turned from short, measured breaths to deep, full inhales through her nose and exhales through her mouth. It was odd, but Percy couldn't ever remember Annabeth snoring. She always just sounded like she was blowing out air.

"If I know this much about how she sounds when she sleeps, I'm either obsessed with her, or I've spent one too many nights staying up waiting for her to start screaming my name." Percy said to himself. Percy considered what he'd just said, causing a fierce blush to overtake his face. "Okay, wow. That came out way wrong. Gods, I'm glad she wasn't awake to hear that." Percy decided it might be best to shut up before she somehow woke up and heard him say something else he'd regret about half a second after he said it. Yeah, that'd be about right for him.

**Annabeth.**

As the oddly spicy-sweet liquid rushed down her throat, Annabeth felt it take effect fast. The room became dimmer and dimmer, as her eyelids became heavy as lead, and she descended into oblivion. The world around her went entirely dark for a moment, as she felt herself slip from consciousness. A half-second later, she found herself on the base of a strange, dark hill. She felt as if she had just woken up, even though she didn't recall when she had fallen asleep. In fact, she couldn't even remember how she'd got here, or anything that had led her to this place. She remembered who she was, where she was from, all the basics from her life, but she couldn't remember anything after arriving at her boyfriend's apartment a few weeks ago. And, wherever she was, it definitely wasn't a 7-floor walkup. Shaking her head, Annabeth decided she ought to focus on the problem at hand. Right now she was alone, seemingly stranded - there were no cars, streets or people in plain view - and had no idea where she was.

'_I need to figure out how to solve those problems first, then focus on my memory problems. Gods. . . memory loss. Why is it always memory loss?' _Annabeth quickly surveyed the area to find that the place looked oddly familiar. Although the grass was black and surely long dead, and the trees were decaying and riddled with worms and bugs, she was sure this wasn't foreign ground. As Annabeth was thinking about climbing the hill to get a better view, she noticed a dim light off in the distance, towards the hilltop. She inexplicably felt drawn to strange, glowing structure.

Annabeth began to work her way up the hill, being careful the shallow-looking patches of ground, where she was sure the soil had eroded, so as not to lose her footing. She was positive now that, whatever this place was, she knew it and knew it well. Despite this, however, as she continued to forge up the increasingly steep hill, she started to smell a putrid, sour smell wafting on the slight breeze that had begun to blow. It was dank and awful, the horrid scent assaulting her senses. It was also a smell that she had become all too familiar with over the course of her life. It was the smell of death.

**Percy.**

As Annabeth continued to sleep, Percy was having a lot of trouble figuring out how he was supposed to rouse her from her dream world. At first, he tried to be gentle. He tried whispering in her ear, lightly shaking her, dabbing her forehead with a wet cloth. Nothing. Then, he got a bit more aggressive.

"ANNABETH!" Percy all but shouted as he shook her forcefully. "Come on! Give me a twitch, a kick, something." No such luck.

"Oh, I'm afraid you won't make any progress that way." A smooth, almost silky voice said from behind him. Percy whipped around to find Morpheus, the god of dreams, smiling pleasantly.

Percy shouted, reaching for his sword. As he pulled out Riptide, the dream god clucked his tongue disapprovingly.

"Oh, Percy. They'll be none of that," he said, willing the sword to drop from Percy's grasp.

"What do you want?" Percy growled, remembering that, during the second Titan War, Morpheus had put all of New York to sleep in an attempt to smooth over the Titan's invasion process.

"Why, only to help, my dear boy," Morpheus replied, ignoring the obvious venom in Percy's voice.

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, in plaguing your pretty little sidekick-"

"Not my sidekick. She gets pissed if you call her that."

"Regardless, I feel giving Annabeth these dreams has tipped the balance a bit too far."

"You gave her these dreams?"

"Of course. Who else?"

Percy was livid. His hands were fisted through the bed sheets and he badly wanted to charge the dream god for putting Annabeth through all this. Then, he thought better of it. He'd promised Annabeth he'd be there when she woke up.

"Okay. Why? Why did you give her these dreams?"

"Oh, Hypnos wanted to repay Athena for those insults a few weeks back. Asked me to give her champion child a few trials of the mind."

"Trials of the mind?"

"An old Greek tradition. An Athena child is forced to confront their greatest fear by way of my nightmares. It is normally a way to prepare for a hazardous quest, but it works just well enough as a tool of vengeance. A bit brutal for my taste, but that's actually why I'm here."

"So all of this, Annabeth almost losing her mind, almost breaking down entirely, was just so Hypnos could get back at Athena?" Percy asked through gritted teeth. He knew gods could be cruel, and this wasn't the first - or last - time he would want to take out some of his anger on one of them, but this time, he wanted to tear down the gates of Olympus to find Hypnos and do a few things to him that would give the sleep god a few nightmares of his own.

"As I said, I find it a little too brutal. Tips the scale a bit too far. So, I've come to remedy the situation."

"And why, exactly, would you do that?" Percy asked, making the anger in his voice even more apparent this time. Morpheus smiled condescendingly, as if he were explaining a simple concept to a small child who refused to understand.

"Oh, Percy. I know what you might think of me, and looking back, I suppose I can understand how you could come to that conclusion, but I am not solely evil. I'm not a demon."

"Well, you're sure as Hades not an angel." Percy grumbled.  
"Exactly!" Morpheus beamed as if, rather than insulting him, Percy had just completed his thought. "I'm neither. You'll notice that, while not always recognized as such, I am the God of _dreams_, not the God of nightmares. I represent both ends of the spectrum; light and darkness, fantasy and nightmare, happiness and sorrow. As such, when I feel that one has overtaken the other, I see to it that the balance is restored. Annabeth here has, as you put it, gone almost over the edge. I am here to help her back to solid ground."

"You mean after all this time of being her being told she had to overcome this by herself, you've had the power to help Annabeth out of all this?"

"Oh, Percy, I've always had the power to do it. I simply haven't had the authority. Though, after all Annabeth has been through, even Hypnos agrees she's had enough. I cannot stop the trial, but I help give her a cheat-sheet, if you will."

The god leaned towards the sleeping form of Annabeth and lightly touched her forehead with his index finger. It was the slightest tap, but it sent an odd wave of energy through the room, a purple ring that emanated from the spot he'd touched , all the way through the walls of the room.

"There. Try speaking to her now."

"Alright," Percy said warily. "Annabeth? Annabeth, can you hear me?" Annabeth shifted her position ever so slightly, only a little jerk of her right arm, but it was something.

"See? She will have noticed a slight disturbance in her dream. Keep speaking to her, and sooner than later I'm sure, she'll realize she is in a dream. The rest is up to her." The dream god sighed, as if he was actually saddened by their problem.

"Well, I've done all I can. Good luck, Percy Jackson. From now on, try to remember that most things are not truly good or evil, merely caught in the circumstances of their existence, and the existences of those around them. Perhaps that will help you to judge beings like myself a bit less harshly." Then, he was gone. No resounding _crack!, _no flash of light, just gone. As if he didn't want to wake Annabeth from her sleep.

Percy shook his head and sighed. He was still furious with the dream god, but know he was also a bit confused. But he had enough on his mind without trying to figure out what Morpheus had meant to get across with his last statement. All he cared about now was that he finally had a way to see if Annabeth was still with him. He turned back to his girlfriend's sleeping form.

"I wish you were up to explain what just happened." He said, knowing he wasn't going to get much of response. "'Cause I caught maybe half of that."

He leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Annabeth, I don't know if you can hear me, but just try to know that, whatever you think you're seeing, it isn't real. You can get past whatever is causing all this pain. I know you can. I know you can because you're the strongest person I've ever met. You'll beat this fear because you hate losing too much not to. You can get past this. I promise."

Percy felt his eyes well up, but he quickly blinked back his tears, knowing he didn't have the option to get emotional. He had to keep it together. He reached out to touch her, to place his hand on her shoulder, hoping his touch might help to pull her out of the illusion. But, as he, did, she recoiled and started to shake violently, as if she was in some intense pain. Percy drew back quickly, confused and surprised to find that she was still asleep. '_Alright. No touching her. Got it_.' He'd just have to keep talking to her and hope something got through. Gods, he hoped something got through.

**Annabeth.**

As the winds around her picked up, Annabeth felt her hair whipping past her face as she continued up the dead, dreary hill. The stench of decay had become almost unbearable. The sour, pungent odor burned in her nostrils, threatening to knock her to her knees. She had experienced death before, living as a demigod. But the smell of it, the smell of bodies decaying, of the sickly metallic scent of blood, was one you never got used to.

Annabeth shook her head, trying to clear it of the smell. She needed to keep moving. She wasn't sure why, bit she felt that she needed to reach the top of the hill. She needed to reach the odd, glowing structure. She felt an odd tug in her stomach leading her towards the mass of dark light. As she got closer to the hill top, it felt as if the gravity was becoming more intense. Her legs ached, her shoulders slumped, she felt like she was about to fall over the closer she got to the hilltop.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she reached the top of the hill. The moment she saw what rested on it, she wished she hadn't. In that moment, it all came back to her. She knew then why the hill had seemed so naggingly familiar. It was the walkway to a place where she had always sought sanctuary. A way to one of the few places she had ever felt safe. It was Half-Blood Hill. And the place she was looking at was, or should have been, Camp Half-Blood.

Annabeth was taken aback. This was Camp Half-Blood, and yet it wasn't. The place looked deserted, the cabins in complete disrepair. No, beyond that. Disrepair implied that time had caused the damage to the structures. What had happened here; the bashed-in widows, the doors ripped off the hinges, the dried red paint splattered all over the walls - well, she tried to pretend it was red paint - this was clearly a concentrated, malicious effort. Annabeth didn't want to move any further, for fear of finding worse things than this. But then, she smelled it again. Death, decay, the smell that had almost knocked her down was far more concentrated now. . . and it was surrounding her.

Annabeth tried to move, to get away from whatever seemed to be advancing on her, but she was rooted to the ground. She felt a chill creep through her, and it felt as if her blood was now running cold. Shadows danced across the walls of the forgotten cabins like some ancient tribesmen making a sacrifice. '_A human sacrifice.'_ She started to scream, but it died in her throat as one of the shadows began to peel off of the wall, taking a human form. Someone she knew. Someone she'd looked up to for years, someone who had sacrificed their life to save her. She saw the face of Luke Castellan smiling at her, but he looked almost nothing like himself. His skin was a dead ashen gray, his eyes an unsettling milky white, his lips bruised and bloody. He looked just as Percy had hanging from that horrible gallows in her first nightmare. He looked dead.

"My, my, Annabeth. You sure have grown up haven't you?" Luke said with that lifeless smile on his face. He took a step closer to her to stroke her face with his fingertips. His skin was ice-cold. "You seem a bit scared. I don't know why. I'm dead, Annabeth. You should know that better than anyone."

"W-What do you mean?" Annabeth stuttered, terrified.

"Oh, honey, I think you know exactly what he means." said, much lighter, more feminine voice. Another shadowy figure appeared beside Luke. Tall, slim, perfect build, long blond hair, a dazzling, but as dead as Luke's, smile on her face. She knew this voice pretty well too. She had watched it's owner die.

"Selena?"

"That's right Annabeth." She smiled again. Again, she looked like her, but not. Gray skin, white eyes, all the same as Luke's. "And I'm not the only one's who'd like a word with you." More shadow people pulled away from the walls. All people that had been lost in the Second Titan War. Beckendorf, Michael Yew, even that kid Ethan Nakamura, the one who had aided Kronos up until the end. They all had the same dead features as Selena and Luke.

"Remember us, Annabeth?" Beckendorf asked.

"The ones you condemned to death?" Michael added.

"Even me, the guy that gave up his life to try to help you? Although, I guess that doesn't matter much to you, does it?"

"No, no." Annabeth finally managed to choke out. "I didn't kill you."

"Really?" Luke questioned. "Think about it. If you had helped me that day all those years ago in your back yard, we all might have lived through that awful war that you allowed to happen. You're lucky it's just us visiting you, Annabeth." Luke leaned closer and whispered into her ear, "You've killed hundreds."

"No, NO!", Annabeth screamed , trying to back away, to do anything to put distance between her and the abominations. They couldn't be real. Their deaths hadn't been her fault. Had they? "I didn't!"

"Oh, I'm afraid you did. Even those you didn't kill, you still couldn't save, could you? You could never be good enough, smart enough, to keep the people you supposedly cared for safe."

"Even those you weren't near when they were killed, you still managed to put them in danger." Beckendorf added grimly. "Take me. If you could've seen that the Andromeda was only half the enemy's plan, they might've diverted focus from the ship, and I might've seen my 20th birthday. Even if you never gave a damn about me, you still allowed the attack plan to go through without saying a word. Still let Percy, the person you're supposed to love, to put himself in that danger. Was it worth it, Annabeth? Worth killing me almost him to sink a ship that had no real significance in the end?"

"Speaking of Percy..." Selena tittered wickedly.

"Ah, yes. He'd like a word with you too." Luke informed her. Another strangled scream managed to escape her throat as a new figure started to appear from one of the walls. She wanted to run now more than ever, but she still felt as if her feet were cemented to the ground. Although, as the new figure was almost fully formed, she started to hear an odd buzzing in her ear. Like static, but softer. It was unintelligible by itself, but something about the tone of the buzzing was somehow familiar. She tried to focus on the sound for a moment, before realizing that the shadow figure was advancing.

He was almost completely formed now, only the smallest details remaining to be completed. Annabeth, working on instinct now, backed away quickly. While trying to get further from these whatever-they-were, she realized that she was finally moving. No longer frozen, Annabeth turned and started to run as fast as she could away from this nightmare. _Nightmare._ For some reason, that word clicked with her. She couldn't dwell on that, however, because she needed to keep moving. Her legs were starting to burn, and the buzz in her ear was getting, not louder, but clearer. It was starting to sound more like an actual human voice. As she ran, she began to understand parts of what the voice was saying. She caught a few tidbits . "_Annabeth ... promise...strong...dream"_ Annabeth tried to piece together what the voice was trying to say, but she needed to keep moving.

At last, after sprinting endlessly through the place that used to be her home, she found something in the middle of all the blackness that was a bit brighter. As she got closer, the image got clearer. It was Percy. Not dead-looking , like the others, but him. Smiling, happy, waiting with a pair of open arms. It was too good to be true. She ran as fast as she could the last twenty yards or so, and crashed into him.

"Percy! Oh, gods, where are we?"

"Doesn't matter, Wise Girl. You're safe, right?"

"Yeah, for the most part. But, what's happened to camp?"

"Nothing you can do about it, Annabeth. There never was."

"Percy, what are you talking about?"

"There never was, Annabeth. No matter what, the things you love always end up gone. Nothing you can do." Percy repeated, an odd smile on his face. Annabeth stood there, confused, as she heard footsteps.  
"They're coming! Percy we need to get out of here now." She whipped around to see how close they were, but saw nothing. Even the footsteps had stopped. "Percy, what the hades is goin- AHHH!" Annabeth screamed at the sight now before her. Percy had changed. He looked as all the others did. Dead.

"Percy! What's happening?"  
"Nothing you can do. Nothing, nothing, nothing." Percy said repeating the word like a mantra. He was advancing. The buzzing was almost clear now it so close to a voice. Annabeth strained to hear what it was saying, to hear anything that might help her. Then she heard it. Him. Percy. The real one, the one she had grown to know since they were twelve. She heard him. And nothing had ever sounded so sweet.

"Annabeth. Listen to me. Whatever you're seeing, it's a dream. It's your dream! Take control of it. Break the fear. It doesn't own you. Don't let it try to."

Her dream? Suddenly, it all came back to her. The nightmares, the godly visits, even her taking the sedative. This _was _a dream. _Her _dream. She looked back to the Percy that was advancing on her. The illusion Hypnos had set loose on her. She took a deep breath.

"Stop." she commanded. The figure kept coming. _Just think control. This is your world._ "Stop!" she repeated, this time much more forcefully. The dream stopped. Annabeth felt a surge of power rush through her. For the first time in weeks, she felt a sense of stability, a feeling of power over her own life. She was in control now. And she was going to get some answers. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to picture Camp Half-Blood, as she knew it. She opened her eyes to find the camp. The sweet-smelling strawberry fields, the bright, vibrant cabins, even the grass had returned to its normal state of perpetual greenness.

The others, Luke, Selena, all of the shadow people, had vanished. Percy was still there, but he no longer looked as if he'd just been dug up from a shallow grave. He was smiling his regular, lopsided smile, not the odd, twisted one from before.

"Nice job, Wise Girl. You're almost there."

"Almost where? What do you know about all this?" Annabeth demanded, realizing that it was a stupid question. This was her dream, her mind. Dream-Percy probably knew about as much about all this as she did.

"Oh, I might know a bit more than that."

"How did you- Oh, right. This is my head, I guess you'd be able to hear my thoughts."

"You're a good guesser." Percy, she was just going to think of him as the real one until she woke up, said smiling.

"Alright, tell me. Now that I'm in here, tell me how I can get rid of these nightmares."

"Annabeth, you can't. You'll just have to get rid of what's making you so scared."

"Then what is that?" Annabeth asked. She was getting fed up with all this ambiguity. "Just tell me what I need to do. What, in the name of the Gods, is the source of these nightmares?"

"I could tell you, but you won't like the answer."

"Just tell me!"

"Well, Annabeth..." he paused. "It's me." Percy said, gesturing downward to himself.

"What?!" Annabeth couldn't be hearing this! All this, just to be told her boyfriend was her problem?

"What, for gods sakes, does that mean?"

"Think about it, Annabeth. Think about what's happened in all your dreams. This one in particular. This one was supposed to be a kind of last wake-up call. What's been said, what's happened?"

Annabeth considered this. What had kept happening? Well, Percy and/or someone else she loved died. Usually painfully. In this dream, she had been accused of killing innocents but, deep down, she knew that wasn't the real problem. As for what had been said, this was the only dream where any actual talking had occurred. What had been central, though? She thought back to anything that had been repeated, or emphasized. Beckendorf had asked '_Was it worth it?' _in a way that had implied he wanted her to seriously consider it. But the last illusion, the dark Percy, had said '_Nothing you can do. Nothing, nothing, nothing.' _like he was just trying to get a point across. Why was that important? The more she thought about it , the less sense it made. It was about Percy, nothing she could do, worth it. That was about it.

She tried to make the pieces fit together, to make them make sense. Percy kept dying, but there was never anything she could do about it, so , that fit. Slowly, it dawned on her. This had never been about just him. It had been about _her _losing him. Him dying and her never being able to stop it. Suddenly, the world around her shifted again, this time becoming a plain, dark void like the one from her first nightmare.

"Nice job, Annabeth. I knew you'd crack it. You're a smart girl." Percy said, smiling again.

"What's happening? I'm not doing this!"

"Nope. Now that you've the problem the dreams were presenting, they're unraveling."

"But I haven't solved anything yet! I've always known you can't stop death! Who doesn't know that?! Besides, if the dream is dissolved, why are you still here? You're part of the dream too."

"Yeah, but I guess Morpheus wants me around a little longer. Maybe I'm supposed to help you clear all this up."

"Great. 'Cause I could really use some help." Annabeth took a shaky breath. This whole experience had completely drained her. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. "Look, I know I might lose Percy. And there's nothing I can do about it. So what?"

"Annabeth, I know you're aware that you might lose him, but have you considered if being with him is worth it?"

"Worth it?"

"Think about it. All your life, you've been taught to approach every situation strategically. You're supposed to try to see everything two steps ahead. You know how giving yourself to someone will end, and you know that, by the end of it, you'll either be dead, or so broken you'll never be able to heal. Maybe it's just not worth it."

His last words hung in the air as he dissipated along with the rest of the dream world. Annabeth was in a state that was a mix of shock, fear, and oddly, some relief. Somehow, she sensed finality, as if this had been the last nightmare. The only puzzling thing was that, although the dream was clearly over, she was not awake. She tried to force herself awake, but that just gave her a headache. So Annabeth just stood there, trapped in some endless purgatory. After what seemed like hours, she found herself hearing that same familiar buzz in her ear.

She shot straight up, knowing that buzzing could be the beginnings of Percy trying to talk to her. She strained herself trying to hear more, until his voice came in clear.

"You know something, Wise Girl? I'm actually starting to run out of things to say. I've basically been talking for about two straight hours, and I can't think of a lot more things to talk to you about. Huh, me being tongue-tied, imagine that."

He laughed a soft, self-deprecating laugh that brought a smile to her face.

"You know, Annabeth, this actually reminds me of the time we first met. Remember that? I had just woken up from fighting the minotaur, and you told me I drooled in my sleep." Again, he laughed. Again, she smiled.

"Wow. Can you believe that, Annabeth? That here we are, seven years later? If you'd have told me that day that we'd be sharing an apartment, much less a bed, well, I would've called you crazy. Then you would've hit me for calling you crazy. You know what, I'm just gonna sit here and make horrible jokes until you wake up. So, unless you want me to unload an entire stand-up routine on you, I'd get a lot less sleepy real quick." She heard him take short breath. "Alright, Two nuns and a firefighter walk into a bar..."

Annabeth stopped paying attention after that, as a warm feeling spread through her. _'Gods, he's an idiot. ' _ Annabeth considered this for a moment, before remembering, _'Oh Gods, I'm in love with an idiot.'_ She was actually felling pretty happy about that fact as the world around her changed yet again. This time, the void that had been surrounding her began to brighten. She saw the bedroom she and Percy shared materialize around her as her eyes began to slide open, finding Percy looking down at her with a mix of confusion, joy, and relief. His eyes were, despite being as round as dinner plates, were dreary with exhaustion. His hair was even messier than usual. To her, he looked absolutely perfect.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain." He smiled wide.

"Hey, Wise Girl." Percy said in a happy, but tired voice.

"You don't seem that excited about me waking up."

"Neither do you." he said with a shrug.

"Yeah, I guess we're both kind of drained after all this, huh?"

"Guess so. I am pretty glad you're up, though." Percy admitted before putting an arm around her and kissing her forehead. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes after that until, without looking at her, Percy asked Annabeth "So, is that it? Is it over?"

Annabeth considered that, along with what the Percy from her dream had said. She looked up at Percy, who eyes betrayed a bit of worry. She smiled at him. She'd decided that, yes, they were worth it. Having him and losing him was better than never having him period. _'In fact,' _she thought to herself, _'Almost anything's better than that.' _She sat up and pecked his lips. "Yeah. It's over. Now, if it's alright, I really need some sleep."

"How could you possibly want to sleep after all this?"

"_Restful _sleep. Tell you what. I sleep now, and tomorrow, we spend the whole day celebrating." Percy smiled.

**Percy.**

"Sold." He leaned over and kissed her in return. "Alright, good night Annabeth." Percy looked over at the digital clock they kept by the bed. 4:38 AM. "Or, rather, good morning." Annabeth groaned.

"You said you'd stop making bad jokes if I woke up." She reminded him.

"I love you too, Owl Head. Now go to sleep."

She pretended to swat at him as she pulled the covers over her and rested her head on a pillow. After about ten minutes, she was out like a light. Percy tried to sleep too, but found himself unable to sit still. "Freaking ADHD." Percy mumbled as he sat up, careful not to wake Annabeth and sat on the bed next to his girlfriend's sleeping form. He looked over to her and smiled. For the first time in weeks, she looked perfectly serene. Her face was worry-free and perfect. Percy was so happy this was all over.

He sat there and watched her sleep until he thought it was getting a little too creepy. So, he allowed his mind to wander when, as he sat there, wide awake at five in the morning, he found himself thinking back to what Morpheus had said at the end of their conversation. That nobody was all good or all bad, and that we were all products of the course our lives take.

As he looked over to Annabeth, still sleeping like a log, he thought maybe the dream god had it right. If he had never met Annabeth, for instance, his life would be vastly different. He might be a completely different person. Just like if Annabeth had never met Luke, or if Luke had never met Thalia, the world would be different in ways he couldn't even conceive. He remembered Annabeth telling him about a quote she really liked. '_All the world's a stage_'. There was more, but he was too wiped to remember the rest. Anyway, maybe that was the way it really was. Maybe we're all just players, saying our lines and affecting the scenes that players after us preform in. Maybe, whatever the ending of life's performance was, we all helped shape it. Percy looked over at Annabeth a final time before finally going to sleep, thinking that, if you could ever trade parts, he'd hold on to his for dear life,

**A/N: Finally, I got it done! I'm so sorry it took so long to update, but I'm going to start the Jasper chapters soon, so I've still got a lot of work to do on this story. I think I'm getting better at my writing, and I'm still trying really hard not to disappoint all my readers. As always, review, PM me with any story ideas(this story or otherwise) and go check out my other stories. Much love, you guys. ;)**

**JE out.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hi guys! It's JE back with the first Jasper chapter of my story. I'm excited to get started on this part of my story and I hope you guys are excited to read it! I love yo faces and I love making references! Shout outs to Kannika, Lainie425, Menna Nasser, mason shadow, herpderp3.134159, Musical Dream, Midnight Phantasma, Draculoramalfoy11, Jacoba1119, and DirectorOfDreams for reading/ reviewing/ faving/following me and my stories. You guys make me wanna keep doing this. Much love, my wonderful readers. Also, my boy Wilks gets his respect, as always. Happy reading!**

**Piper.**

As the crisp, dry, autumn leaves crunched beneath her boots, Piper McLean made her way up to the praetor house of Camp Jupiter, thinking that it really was odd that Romans were so ridged about scheduling. Even though it was only about three minutes until lights out, all the legionaries were still hard at work, sharpening weapons, carrying bags of laundry to and from the washrooms, and trying to corral all the Lares back into their proper parts of the camp. Then, three minutes later, they all dropped off their assignments precisely in place, and headed back to their quarters. The fact that they were able to get so much done in so little time amazed Piper. You could say a lot about the Romans, but couldn't say they were unorganized. Shaking her head, Piper kept walking towards the large, intimidating house where her boyfriend, Jason Grace, resided. He'd decided that, after the second Giant War, he needed to return to Camp Jupiter to retake his Praetorship. When he'd told her, Pier had thought he'd sounded nervous about his impending move, like he's been afraid she'd be upset. But Piper hadn't minded. She and Jason had been through enough together for her to know that a little thing like an entire country between them wasn't going to put that much of a damper on their relationship.

For the three years that they'd been apart, they had done everything they could to be as close as possible. They'd IM'd to the point that she'd had to beg Percy to create a make-shift rainbow around ten times a day, ('_I really doubt that not seeing you every five minutes will_ _cause him to forget that you exist , Piper,_' Percy had insisted) and she'd ended up owing her friends, collectively, about three hundred drachmas. She loved her friends. Nico had even persuaded Mrs. O'Leary to let Piper shadow travel to California to visit him. She _really _loved her friends. Overall, it had been worth it. Anything she had to do to keep Jason was worth it. When she'd turned eighteen, Jason had even taken one of the giant eagles to visit her. Man, had the campers freaked out. It had been amazing, just like everything was with him.

She smiled at the memory before sneaking by the slightly opened door of the Praetor to find Jason with his hands resting on the ivory railings of the house's balcony, leaning his upper body over the edge. She had to admit, Piper was actually pretty proud of herself for getting this far without being noticed. She wasn't surprised, though. She'd been here enough to know that Jason took all of his responsibility over this place very seriously, even playing babysitter for the whole camp by making sure nobody was out even a moment after curfew. '_He's always so careful never to miss anything around this place.' _Piper thought, feeling her chest tighten. She shook her head quickly, pushing down that thought before she could finish it. This was supposed to be a happy day. She pushed a smile onto her face and tiptoed over to the stiff, concentrated form of her boyfriend. Before he could notice her presence, she lunged and flung her arms around the back of Jason's neck. "Guess who!" she said in singsong voice.

"Gah!" Jason exclaimed before twisting her around and pinning her arm behind her back. Before she could make sense of the situation, she found Jason's golden sword at her throat. Now, it seemed, that he could get a good look at whose neck he was about to sever, Jason couldn't let his prisoner fast enough.

"Oh, Gods! Piper! I'm so sorry! What are you doing here? Are you hurt? Did I cut you? Are you bleeding?! I'm so sorry!" All that came out in a rushed, terrified voice. Piper took a moment to regain her footing, and then turned towards Jason's shaking, scared form. "I'm so sorry!" he repeated.

"You know, Jason," Piper said, rubbing the back of her neck, "I might be a little more upset if this was the first time this had happened." Piper smiled at her boyfriend's expression. This _had_ actually happened before. Jason's warrior mentality made it kind of impossible to surprise him without wearing full body armor. Jason's stance relaxed a bit at her smile.

"You gotta quit sneaking up on me like that, Pipes."

"What can I say? I just love those terrified looks of yours." She replied, patting his face lightly.

"You really are something else, you know that? So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"That is actually what I came here to talk to you about." Piper said, lacing her arms around his neck.

"You came here to talk to me about why you came here?" Jason asked, half joking, half honestly puzzled. Piper rolled her eyes. Typical. Jason was always so wrapped up in all of his legion business; it took him a while to revert back to being a regular person.

"Yes, I did. Now, you can either keep asking questions, or you can stand there and let me tell you why I'm here."

"Oh, I already like where this is going." Jason remarked sarcastically, before draping an arm around Piper and leading her out the door. Piper elbowed him in the ribs, just hard enough to earn an "Ah!" Jason rubbed the spot she'd struck. "Not cool, Beauty Queen!"

"Don't call me that, or I'll do it again."

"You're spending too much time around Annabeth. So, spill it. What did you need to tell me?" Piper wriggled out of his grasp to face him, a nervous smile on her face. She'd played this out one or two times in her head, and now she was finally telling him. "Remember a few months back, when I told you about my applications to all those snooty private schools my dad made me write?"

"The ones we spent, like, two hours comparing because you wanted to find the least stuffy-looking ones?

"Yeah. Well, it turns out, one of them accepted me."

"Seriously? That's great! Which one?" She handed him the pamphlet that the school had sent her. Jason studied the small handbook for a moment, before his eyes rested on the bottom of the front page. He looked up at her. "San Diego?" Piper nodded excitedly.

"I start my first classes on the first of the month!"

"Piper, that's great! That's not even ten minutes if I fly there! This is so great!" He grabbed her by her waist and spun her around, until she found herself hovering a few feet above the ground. Jason was, apparently, so excited that he had flown up a bit without realizing. "Uh, Jason?"

"Yeah?"

Piper gestured down and smiled.

"Oh, heh. Sorry, guess I got a little overzealous there, huh?" He pulled her closer so that she had to crane her neck up a bit to meet his eyes.

"Ah, Piper, this is amazing! Finally, we can see each other without having to travel on weird mystical animals!"

"Right, now you'll just have to contort the air around you to fly to see me! Almost normal!" she agreed, laughing.

"Yeah, not really, but still great! " He was grinning from ear to ear, the little scar on his upper lip turning a cresant moon-like shape. "This day couldn't get any better!" Piper reached into the pocket of her jacket to pull out two tickets.

"Sure about that?" She asked, holding the tickets under her boyfriend's nose. Jason took the ticket, his eyes scanning over the tiny text on the front. His eyes widened even further.

"You got Clippers tickets?!"

"Courtside, seven PM!" Piper smiled. The tickets, which had been sold out for two weeks, belonged to some oil baron who couldn't make it to the game. The guy had been friends with her dad, so Piper had remembered him talking about the vacant seats. So, Piper had called the stadium, talked to the management, and (after some paternal name dropping and a little charmspeak thrown in there for good measure) convinced them to sell her the tickets. It hadn't been a clean win, but Jason was a huge Clippers fan, so Piper took what she could get.

"Gods, you're awesome!" Jason pulled her to him again and pressed his mouth to hers. After a few seconds, they broke apart. The kiss hadn't lasted as long as Piper wanted, but it felt good to be near him. It had been too long since she'd had him to herself.

"Jason!" A guy fully clad in gladiator armor and a long, purple cloak burst into the room, an irritated look on his blood-stained face. No, not blood. Kool-Aid. Oh, it was Dakota. Looking mad. This couldn't be good news.

"What's up, Dakota?" Jason asked.

"There's a little argument going on outside."  
"Who's involved?" Jason inquired, immediately switching back to Praetor mode. Piper's heart sank. She knew that if Jason went outside to deal with this, he'd be here for a few hours at least. The Romans had very complex procedures for dealing with disputes. _All _disputes. Hades, Piper had seen a three hour long delegation take place over who had used the last bit of toothpaste in somebody's bathroom. Judging by Dakota's expression, this was gonna take a while, whatever it was.

"A couple of new recruits. Real hotheads, both ticked about the other one snatching their shield."

"That's all?"

"Yeah, well, they're both also a little violent. One of em's all ready lost a few teeth."

"Ah, geez!" Jason turned to Piper, a pleading look in his eyes. "Five minutes. I swear." Piper nodded, knowing full well that it was going to take much, much longer than that to resolve whatever this was. She snuck a peak at the clock on the wall of the right wall. 6:30. She sighed. They were probably going to miss the game now, too. As she watched Jason rush out of the wide ivory door, Piper tried to believe that it would be nice and quick. That they might get to the game. After about an hour, she abandoned that idea. After two hours, she decided she might as well try to get some sleep. She lied down on the soft leather couch Jason kept in the middle of the room. She closed her eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

A bit later, Piper awoke to a slight shaking. She turned on her side to find Jason grasping her shoulder.

"Oh, hey." Piper greeted him, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes."

"Piper, I'm sorry. The whole thing ran a lot longer than I expected, and the dude with the missing teeth was impossible, and"

"Jason, look, it's fine alright?" Piper interrupted. She knew Jason sometimes had to put his camp duties first. She'd kind of come to peace with it. Or, she was trying to. She stood up and hugged him again before saying "It's late, I gotta get home, okay?" she heard Jason sigh.

"Okay, Pipes. I'll make this up to you, alright?"

"Yeah, alright." She stood on her tiptoes to peck his lips one last time before slipping out the open door. Piper shook her head. She loved Jason, but sometimes it was hard not to think that he valued the camp more than he did her. It always seemed like it was easy for him to blow her off for this, but hard to blow this off for her. It hurt her to think that way, and she knew she might be getting a bit needy, but, well, she _did_ need him, and half the time it felt like he didn't feel the same way. _'Okay, stop it. You're being ridiculous. You're just tired. Go home, get some rest, and don't dwell on this.' _she told herself.As she turned towards the small complex of buildings that housed her apartment, Piper decided to focus on something a little more upbeat. Jason had promised to make tonight up to her. She tried to focus on that. _'He's been making things up to you an awful lot lately, hasn't he?' _

"I really need to shut up." Piper said out loud, before fatigue finally took over and forced her into sleep.

**A/N: Alright, first Jasper chapter done! I really like the where this story is going to end up. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. I think my Percabeth stuff is a little better, but I just need time to adjust to writing a new couple. As always, please review. It really does help. Also, if you have any ideas for this story, one-shot ideas, requests for future couples, or future story ideas, feel free to PM me. I welcome it. Stay awesome, my friends.**

**JE out. **


	14. Posted Haitus

Hey guys. I know I haven't updated in a while, but it's been hectic. I think I'll be off this site for a while. I'm not sure when or if I'll be back, but I hope you enjoy what I've written. A little warning as well; be careful who you're yourself with. It can really hurt like hell if you're open with the wrong person


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